Annie’s on a diet and Annie doesn’t like being on a diet.  I don’t blame her, I don’t like it either but we have both gained weight over the past several months so we are watching what we eat.

Maisie and I have been doing a lot of training lately, we are working on her Canine Good Citizen title and then hope to move on to Therapy Dog certification.  Yesterday before class I took Maisie out for a long walk to review some of the things we’ve been working on and to burn off some energy because she gets so excited when she sees the other dogs in class.  Distraction is her biggest obstacle to passing her test.

Because of this, I have treats tucked into the pockets of my coats, sweatshirts or pants.  When I get home, Annie will shove her nose right into wherever I have those treats.  She knows Maisie and I have been doing treat things without her.  Of course I will ask her to sit or lie down and she will get a treat, but it’s never enough, she always wants more.  I understand, I always want more yummy things too.

Well, yesterday I was rushing around.  Maisie and I went for a walk and I was taking pictures for a photo challenge and because of this we got home later than I planned.  We were both hot and muddy so I quickly rinsed Maisie off and then hopped in the shower.  We left for class 20 minutes later.  It was so warm out I discarded my coat, shoved treats in my sweatshirt pocket and took off.  When we got home, Chris and I were late for an outing with his mom and we rushed off again.  Yep, you guessed it, I forgot about the treats in my coat pocket and left my coat hanging on a hook in the narrow hallway that Annie used to never go down but now does not fear.

Later that evening I noticed Annie snuffling around in her crate.  Chris looked at me and said “what is Annie doing, and by the way, how did you break your hook?” Then, “Wait a minute, is that your coat?”.  Sure enough, there was my coat, rumpled up in her crate, buried under her blanket.  I stood up and attempted to remove it but Annie was standing on it with a look on her face that said “finders, keepers”.  We were both laughing as I struggled to get my coat out of there but I was finally rewarded with a slimy, wet mess of a coat.  The pockets were licked clean of any treat remnants.

Somehow she had pulled my coat down without ripping it by snapping the hook in half.  These are really sturdy hooks, they’ve been overloaded with coats and bags for years but in one afternoon Annie figured out how to break one.  Oh, to be a fly on the wall!